The Glad Game

Do you ever get excited when you rediscover as an adult a movie that you loved as a child? I just recently watched the movie Pollyanna, starring Hayley Mills, with my family and had this experience. However, my perspective was quite different today than it was when I was ten, and as a result, my take-away was different.

So how do you create a story that speaks to all ages? Two quick ideas from Pollyanna…

Universality

That’s a big word that means everyone can relate to what’s being said or done. There’s a universal appeal or application, truth that any audience can recognize.

Pollyanna invents a game for herself called the Glad Game that changes the population of Harrington Town. Simply put, no matter what has happened, you must always think of something to be glad about.

She tells the story of really wanting a doll but getting a pair of crutches instead. Pollyanna finds something glad about the mistake. “Well, at least I didn’t have to use them [the crutches].”

From Aunt Polly to Nancy to Mrs. Snow to Dr. Chilton, all the characters learn something from Pollyanna and her Glad Game. Find yourself in one of these characters, and you’ll find out what you can learn from this little girl.

Something Untold

The movie ends with Aunt Polly and Dr. Chilton taking Pollyanna to have a procedure done that will make her walk again.

As I child, I saw this as a happy ending. Everyone is smiling and waving and cheering.

As an adult, I saw the ending differently. My life experiences have shaped my perspective, and I realize that all stories do not end happily. I realize now there is no guarantee that this little girl whom the entire town has come to love will actually walk again.

And what if she doesn’t? Will she be able to keep smiling? Would I be able to keep smiling?

My Take-Away for Writers

No matter what story you’re trying to tell, it should have the element of universality. For example, are your characters believable? Do they have a backstory, or what are their struggles? If they’re perfect, it’s going to be hard to find an audience that can relate to them!

And finally, what does your story say – or what doesn’t it say? Whether the conclusion wraps up all the loose ends or leaves unfinished details, give the audience something to think about.

So what are some favorite movies – or books – you’ve rediscovered as an adult? What qualities make them worth revisiting?

Metrics and Keeping Your Writing on Track

Have you heard the saying, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure?” I realize this principle is primarily connected with the business world, but I believe there’s an application here for writers as well.

 I remember when I first started seriously writing fiction during my high school years. I’d sit down at my computer, work really hard and save my draft a couple hours later, feeling quite accomplished. But then, life would happen, and the demands of high school (not nearly as complicated as they seemed at the time), would get in the way. My progress was like an irregular heartbeat.   

With my first book – and especially with my second one – I established benchmark goals. Setting goals is certainly the first step, but without a way to track or measure progress, the goals lose their clarity.

That’s where metrics comes into play. Metrics, as simply defined by dictionary.com, is “the science of measuring.”

For example, my goal with my second book is to have my rough draft complete by June (yes, of this year). A goal has to be specific, so I estimated my target page and word counts. Then, looking at those numbers, I set up an Excel spreadsheet with formulas to calculate the difference between my actual and target counts. As I record my progress each week, I’ve been able to see the difference as I chip away at those goals.  

Guess what? My simple spreadsheet has helped keep me accountable, and I’ve stuck to my weekly goals. I’ve watched the difference between actual and target counts shrink and the percentage completion steadily rise, which has in turn helped motivate me to stay on track.

And what I’ve learned is this: Goals, metrics and motivation work hand in hand. You can’t have one without the others.

October Baby Movie Review

October Baby is the story of Hannah, a college student whose collapse on stage during a theatrical debut demands answers. Answers that lead to a shocking discovery about her birth.

Hannah was born after a failed abortion and deserted by her biological mother. Her adoptive parents, fearful that the truth would be too hard for their daughter, sheltered her from this knowledge.

Angry with herself, with her adoptive parents, and with her biological mother, Hannah joins her best friend Jason and his friends on a spring break road trip that takes her back to her birthplace, a place where she hopes she can find herself.

What she finds is the raw truth – more painful than she could have imagined. And now, she has to decide if she can find the strength to forgive.

Thumbs Up

I went to see this movie with some of my career-aged friends last Saturday and was impressed with how professionally it was done. The acting was superb – not awkward (as has been the case with some private films). The characters were believable, funny and lovable; and the plot unfolded at a quick enough pace to keep my attention.  

At a few points, I had to exercise suspension of disbelief or the willingness not to question the probability of the situation. I’ll just share the obvious one with you – that her parents withheld such a huge piece of Hannah’s history from her. They didn’t even tell her she was adopted, let alone, the product of a failed abortion. Naturally, there are some serious trust issues that unfold as a result.

However, the movie as a whole is excellent and well worth your time.

Just bring tissues. You will need them.

PG-13 Rating

The PG-13 rating is appropriate because of the story’s premise and theme. Abortion is a horrible crime – I don’t care what society says; I’m going to call it murder – and the movie does not sugarcoat it, nor should it.  The story drives home the sanctity of life while also offering the beautiful gift of forgiveness.

The movie itself is clean – no language, no sexual content or violence. The romantic interest that develops between Hannah and her friend Jason maintains clear, respectful boundaries – so refreshing to see and such a good example for today’s teens.

Snippets for Something Later

“Can you tell I’m easily distracted?”

“She was a very manly woman.”

And my personal favorite quote of the week: “Ribbons bother me. Why do we give them out as awards when we also use them to identify prize fair pigs?”

Ok, so what do these statements have in common? I scribbled them down in my small spiral pad, because they sounded interesting.

You never know when someone’s going to say something that strikes a chord with you. Will you remember it if you don’t write it down?

Keeping a small note pad within arm’s reach lets me jot down ideas, comments, even just things to do that I don’t want to forget. Half of what I write down I will tear out and toss later, but some of it may work its way into one of my character’s personalities or a dialogue sequence.

In his article A Day in the Life of a Writer, Jeff Heffron offers this insight into how capturing the commonplace can pay off in the long run.

In a single day, you can find enough ideas to write about for a good long while. Details, images, dialogue, events—in your life, in the news, in the lives of those around you. We have hundreds, maybe thousands of thoughts, ideas, impressions, and reactions that often are forgotten minutes later.

Heffron recommends the exercise of writing down everything that happens to you in a day. I’ve never tried the full exercise, but I have adopted the habit of keeping my small spiral pad by my side.

So take a minute to think back over your day. Did you hear something today that caught your ear? And if so, did you take the time to write it down?

Plotting and Perspiration

Thomas Edison summed up the role of hard work in creativity and invention when he said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”

I wish I could say that writers just start typing and the story writes itself, but 9 times out of 10, that’s not how it works. No, a story requires thought and planning. Along the way, you might discover some genius and the words may start to flow more freely – but not until you've rolled up your sleeves and gotten down to work.

I think back to one of my first art projects. My twin brother and I were in the same kindergarten class, and the teacher asked everyone to create and color a picture about the ocean and give it a title. Our “artwork” would then be judged and the winners’ work put on display.

Right away, I pulled out my crayons and started coloring. When I finished, I had a purple octopus, fish of many colors and probably some attempts at ocean seaweed. I got in line behind my brother and waited while he talked to our teacher.

His was not nearly as colorful as mine. In fact, it looked like a meager attempt to recreate a bunch of blue and yellow flounders from The Little Mermaid. I was thinking to myself how mine was totally better than his.

The teacher asked my brother, “What’s yours called?”

“The School of Fish,” he said simply.

I was only four at the time, but I remember my jaw dropped. What looked moments before like a lackluster picture now took on a shade of simple genius. About that time, my four-year-old mind registered that it hadn’t even thought about a title.

The teacher turned to me. “What about yours?”

“The School of Fish,” I blurted. She looked skeptically at my drawing and said kindly, “How about ‘The Hungry Octopus’?”

Yeah, so much for that blue ribbon. And sure enough, my brother won it.

His drawing was no better than my own – maybe worse – but he had taken the time to think before he started scribbling. And his planning paid off.

And sure enough, he found some brilliance along the way.

I’m not saying that you have to plot out your story on hundreds of neat little notecards and then put them in order (although I’ve heard this technique works for some writers). For my books, I keep a running chapter outline in Word. Sure, it’s a work in progress, and certainly, as I type, I give my story the flexibility to “write itself” when I find something’s not working.

But the required element is planning and perspiration.

Booker T. Washington said, “Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.”

Yes, my friends, that includes plotting out your story and taking the time to plan.

Easy Writing Makes Hard Reading

Writing well is simply hard work. Earnest Hemingway said it best: “Easy writing makes hard reading.”

I will never forget one of my English professors whose daily habit was to open class in prayer. One of her requests was simply “to be clear.”

We as writers would do well to pray for clarity of writing. We should not write to impress. We should write with clarity of message and with simplicity of meaning that readers can relate to and appreciate.

Easier said than done. Writing in such a way that reading becomes effortless is in fact, hard.

Music presents an analogy that speaks to this reality. Having sung in choirs since I was thirteen, I can appreciate the importance that practice plays. Soloists and instrumentalists often puts hours of preparation into their music. During a well-polished performance, the audience simply listens and lets the music speak to them. Their focus is on the song, the melody, and the words. And that’s as it should be. However, the music can get lost in the performance when the musician makes a mistake – misses an entrance, forgets the words, or sings a flat note.  

The same is true with writing. When readers pick up a well-written book, they become so involved in the story that they hardly notice how the words sound on the page. On the other hand, the reader gets distracted when grammar isn’t right or the wording becomes clunky. In this case, the story becomes lost in the medium of the English language due to a sloppy presentation.

That said, we could shift the words around in Hemingway’s quote to say, “Hard writing makes easy reading.” The same is equally true.

Therein lies a challenge for every writer – the challenge to write well so that the story doesn’t get muddied by mechanics.

So go write hard.

Find Your Time to Write… And Stick to It.

Today, I had the inspired idea to wake up early (on my one day to sleep in), turn on my computer and write before having breakfast.

I quickly discovered that this scenario might have some problems after hitting snooze twice and reluctantly rolling out of bed thirty minutes after my planned writing rendezvous.

I wasn’t encouraged after staring at my computer screen for twenty minutes without having written anything I liked.

After 30 minutes, I started to warm up, but by then, I was getting distracted by the Publix blueberry muffins sitting on the table. I gave up.

Perhaps you are thinking: This writer is such a slacker.

Actually, I am a very task- and goal-driven person. Right now, there are at least three lists on my desk, and I’m happily scratching away at them as the day progresses.

I realize that writers can become guilty of making excuses and letting their writing schedules start to slip, but that’s not the point of this post. In fact, I decided to try this morning’s exercise because I had already met my weekly writing goal and wanted to experiment a little.

And what I learned is that I must clear away distractions before I can fully give myself to writing. The blueberry muffins were a distraction to my empty stomach. My unstarted lists were a distraction to my task-oriented mind. Before I could settle into my writing zone, I needed to tend to these distractions first.

Maybe some people actually work better with lots of things going on simultaneously. Everyone is different.

The moral of the story is in the title. It’s good to try new things – like a new writing schedule – but if you discover something doesn’t work, don’t waste your time. Just get back on your game, and stick to the writing routine that works for you.

For me, that means early mornings on Saturdays are probably out.